Hawaii Motion to Compel

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Haw. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(2) is a list, and what the list leaves out decides which paper you file. The application asks the Circuit Court for an order compelling an answer, a designation, or inspection in accordance with the request, which is an order the other side can then be held to. It reaches a deposition answer under Rules 30 or 31, a Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a) designation, an interrogatory under Rule 33 and a request for inspection under Rule 34. Rule 36 is not named. Rule 37(a)(3) closes the obvious gap: for purposes of this subdivision an evasive or incomplete answer or response is to be treated as a failure to answer or respond.

2. 2

   Streamlined discovery assistance is Hawaii's own alternative and it needs unanimity. RCCH Rule 15.1(a) opens it upon agreement of all parties involved in a discovery dispute. The parties fix a deadline for simultaneous letter briefs; each brief goes to chambers and to every other party, must confirm that deadline, give the dates of discovery cut-off and trial, and discuss the dispute and the relief sought, and runs to 5 pages or less inclusive of all exhibits unless the court orders otherwise. The court then picks the procedure. It may decide on the papers, it may set a conference or hearing and say whether counsel must attend in person or may appear by telephonic or video conferencing, or it may ask a party to file an ordinary motion instead.

3. 3

   Rule 15.1 has a gate in front of it. The parties involved must have previously conferred, in person or by telephonic or video conferencing, to try to resolve or narrow the dispute, and the rule says in terms that communication by email does not satisfy this requirement. The certificate of compliance that goes with the letter brief has prescribed contents: the date, the time and the length of the meeting or call, and the names of all participants. The prevailing party prepares the order under RCCH Rule 23, and every letter brief is appended to that order for purposes of appellate review, so the five pages are the record.

4. 4

   No Hawaii rule puts a clock on the application itself. Rule 37(a) prescribes no window and sets no waiver, and neither do the Rules of the Circuit Courts, so lateness alone does not end the right the way a fixed statutory window would elsewhere. What does constrain you is the scheduling order. Expedited-track cases are set for trial within 9 months of the initial scheduling conference under Rule 16.1(d)(1), and non-expedited cases within 12 months, extendable to 18, so the discovery cut-off in your own case is the real outside date.

5. 5

   The itemization is written into the motion, not into a second document. RCCH Rule 30(a) provides that motions to compel answers to specific interrogatories shall also identify and quote each interrogatory in full. The same rule makes the responding party do the mirror image, quoting each interrogatory and each request for admission in full immediately preceding its answer or objection, and RCCH Rule 30(b) tells the serving party to leave reasonably sufficient space for the answer after each item and to serve two sets. There is no Hawaii document called a separate statement.

6. 6

   Requests for admission sit outside the compel provision. Under Rule 36(a) the matter is admitted unless an answer or objection is served within 30 days of the request, and if what came back is inadequate the requesting party may move to determine the sufficiency of the answers or objections. Unless the court determines that an objection is justified it shall order that an answer be served; if an answer does not comply the court may order either that the matter is admitted or that an amended answer be served, or may put final disposition off to a pre-trial conference. Rule 36(a) borrows only the fee provision from Rule 37(a)(4).

7. 7

   Read Rule 37(a)(4) before you decide anything. On a granted application, or where the discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court shall require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, or the party or attorney advising that conduct, or both, to pay the reasonable expenses of making it including attorney's fees. On a denied application the same shall runs the other way, against the moving party or the attorney filing it or both. Count the escape hatches: three on the granted limb, only two on the denied limb. Rule 37(e) then bars any award against the State or a county except to the extent a statute permits.

Hawaii Requirements for Motion to Compel

• Whether Every Party Will Agree to Streamlined Discovery Assistance

  RCCH Rule 15.1(a) opens on agreement of all parties involved in the dispute, and it replaces the motion with simultaneous letter briefs of 5 pages or less inclusive of all exhibits. Each brief confirms the submission deadline, gives the dates of discovery cut-off and trial, and discusses the dispute and the relief sought. The court may announce a decision without a conference or hearing, may set one and specify in-person or telephonic or video attendance, or may ask a party to file an ordinary motion instead. Settle this first, because it changes what you draft.

• The Prerequisite Conference and the Certificate That Records It

  RCCH Rule 15.1(b) says the court will not entertain a request for streamlined discovery assistance unless the parties involved have previously conferred, in person or by telephonic or video conferencing, and that communication by email does not satisfy this requirement. Rule 15.1(c) prescribes the certificate: the date, the time and the length of the meeting or call, and the names of all participants. Keep that detail as it happens rather than reconstructing it later.

• The Device You Served, Checked Against the Rule 37(a)(2) List

  Haw. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(2) enumerates a deposition answer under Rules 30 or 31, a Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a) designation, an interrogatory under Rule 33, and a request for inspection under Rule 34. Rule 36 is not on the list. If your device is requests for admission, the paper is a Rule 36(a) motion to determine the sufficiency of the answers or objections, which is a different remedy rather than a different route to the same one.

• The Circuit You Apply In, Under Rule 37(a)(1)

  Rule 37(a)(1) is captioned Appropriate Court. An application for an order to a party may be made to the court in which the action is pending or, on matters related to a deposition, to the court in the circuit where the deposition is being taken. An application for an order to a person who is not a party shall be made to the court in the circuit where the deposition is being, or is to be, taken.

• Each Interrogatory Quoted in Full Inside the Motion Itself

  RCCH Rule 30(a) provides that motions to compel answers to specific interrogatories shall also identify and quote each interrogatory in full. Hawaii has no separate statement document, so this itemization lives in the motion. The same rule requires the responding party to quote each interrogatory and each request for admission in full immediately preceding its answer or objection, and Rule 30(b) requires reasonably sufficient space for the answer after each item and two sets served.

• The Dates Showing the Response Period Had Already Run

  Rule 33(b)(3) gives 30 days after service of the interrogatories, or 45 days after service of the summons and complaint for a defendant served early in the case, and Rule 34(b) matches it for a request for inspection. Rule 36(a) treats the matter as admitted after 30 days and carries the same 45-day defendant alternative. Those periods move by court order or by written agreement subject to Rule 29. Note also RCCH Rule 30(a): a party whose objection is overruled must answer within 10 days after notice of the order.

• The Request for Expenses Under Rule 37(a)(4)(A), and Your Own Exposure

  On a granted application, or where the discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court shall require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, or the party or attorney advising that conduct, or both, to pay the reasonable expenses of making it including attorney's fees, subject to three findings that excuse it. Rule 37(a)(4)(B) runs the same shall against a losing movant with only two excuses listed, and Rule 37(a)(4)(C) lets the court apportion expenses on a split result. Rule 37(e) bars any award against the State or a county except to the extent permitted by statute.

• Whether the Case Is on the Expedited Track, Which Caps What You Can Ask For

  Rule 16.1(c)(1) limits an expedited-track party to 4 oral depositions totalling 16 hours on the record and 35 items in any combination across Rule 33 interrogatories with subparts counted, Rule 34 requests for documents and Rule 36 requests for admission. Going beyond that needs a motion or a Rule 15.1 request setting out why the discovery is necessary and why its burden will not outweigh its likely benefit, or a stipulation approved by the court. Rule 16.1(b) exempts foreclosure, Court Annexed Arbitration Program cases, agency appeals, consumer debt collection, quiet title and asbestos. These rules reach Circuit Court cases with complaints filed on or after January 1, 2022. Attorney review is available as an option.